ILLINOIS WATER RESOURCEs CENTer
Enhancing water related research and education throughout Illinois
COVID-19 Impacts on Illinois' Water Resources
IWRC is committed to helping educate the public on all issues facing Illinois’ water resources, even Coronavirus.
Read what the CDC says on water and COVID-19 here
Programs, events, and outreach opportunities
Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program
Submissions for this fellowship will interest researchers within Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) interested in developing regional and/or national methods of assessments of UTES.
“This research opportunity focuses on thermal energy storage in open systems, where heat and fluids are exchanged with geologic media (e.g., ATES and RTES). In an RTES system, it is assumed that the heat storage reservoir is comprised of permeable strata that underlies and is in poor hydraulic connection with overlying potable aquifers. ATES would store heat in the overlying aquifer. These systems differ in a number of ways, but for the purposes of this research, a primary distinction is that heat injected into ATES systems is swept away from the point of injection, so must be captured downgradient; and heat injected in RTES systems uses lower quality water, but stored hot or cold water is nearly stagnant, resulting in different operational constraints.”
2021 UCOWR AWARD NOMINATIONS
Explore the prerequisites for each award below!
Early Career Award for Applied Research
Early Career Award for Extension/Outreach/Engagement
Mid-Career Award for Applied Research
Mid-Career Award for Extension/Outreach/Engagement
“Nominations of candidates for the nine respective UCOWR Awards must be made by a delegate of UCOWR. Each award has its own criteria and procedures that can be found under the Awards menu of the website or by clicking the links above. Please follow the guidelines required for each award. Submit nominations electronically to ucowr@siu.edu. Deadline to submit is October 30, 2020.”
Upcoming Events
Find Resources We Recommend for Water Events, Webinars, and more!
The Student Sustainability Committee has Working Groups across various categories of sustainability: Education & Justice, Energy, Food & Waste, Land, Water, & Air, and Transportation & Infrastructure. Meetings occur twice a month. View the SSC Calendar for Zoom information.
All interested in hearing about sustainability projects are welcome to join the meeting!
To find out more about this event or to register, visit the event registration here.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Security Grand Challenge is hosting a 2-day virtual summit in coordination with the other U.S. Federal agencies and offices.
The meeting will be held in the afternoons of October 27-28, 2020. The summit will focus on the future of water infrastructure and innovation in the United States, and the role of the DOE and other Federal agencies in supporting research and invention to achieve a more water secure future.
Each day will feature plenary talks and speakers from federal agency leadership and industry visionaries. The summit will feature interactive breakout rooms led by program managers and other leaders from academia, industry, and government—where with the help of attendees—they will envision the future of water infrastructure. During this attendee-driven 2-day summit, participants will have the opportunity to:
Discuss the roles of the federal agencies, and related leadership in water security, innovation, and investment related to water infrastructure.
Provide vision and advice related to water infrastructure and innovation directly to federal agencies.
Inform future water infrastructure and innovation investment at federal agencies and with the WSGC prizes.
Learn about opportunities for water research and innovation at different scales (e.g. facility, city, regional) and how those opportunities may change over time.
Information gathered from this summit will inform the next wave of prizes and R&D investments related to water security and help stimulate stronger connections among attendees, including researchers, innovative companies, multiple agencies of the federal government, and state and local officials.
What we do
As a part of the Prairie Research Institute, the Illinois Water Resources Center works with scientists, water professionals, and communities to address the state’s water resource challenges.
Success Stories & Congratulations
CONGRATULATIONS ON RECEIVING THE UCOWR EARLY CAREER AWARD FOR APPLIED RESEARCH FOR 2019.
CONGRATULATIONS ON FIRST PLACE in THE UCOWR 2019 PH.D. DISSERTATION AWARD FOR WATER POLICY AND SOCIO-ECONOMICS.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Using bioavailability to assess pyrethroid insecticide toxicity in urban sediments
Dr. Michael Lydy